Machine for separating a granular substance from a container of paper or the like

ABSTRACT

A machine for receiving closed packages of paper or other tearable material containing a granular substance, tearing the walls of the package to a substantial degree by the use of toothed means, delivering the remnants of the torn package and the contents to a vibrating screen having interstices to pass the substance to a hopper therebelow, the screen being inclined to deliver the remnants to one collecting point and the hopper being inclined to deliver the substance to another collecting point.

United States Patent Inventor Delbert K. Barber Dearborn, Mich.

Appl. No. 804.510

Filed Mar. 5, 1969 Patented Aug. 3.1971

Assignee Superior Tea and Coffee Company Chicago, Ill.

MACHINE FOR SEPARATING A GRANULAR SUBSTANCE FROM A CONTAINER OF PAPER ORTHE LIKE 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

11.8. CI. 241/222, 209/3, 214/305, 222/342, 241/2, 241/792. 241/166.241/236 Int. Cl. 1302c 18/06, B02c 18/22 Field ol'Search 241/2, 14,

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 661,969 11/1900 Fuhr 241/7922,321,869 6/1943 Stanyer 222/342 2,818,985 1/1958 lrmscher 214/3053,396,914 8/1968 Liebman 241/236 Primary Examiner- Donald 0 KellyAtlorneyLeonard S. Knox ABSTRACT: A machine for receiving closedpackages of paper or other tearable material containing a granularsubstance, tearing the walls of the package to a substantial degree bythe use of toothed means, delivering the remnants of the torn packageand the contents to a vibrating screen having interstices to pass thesubstance to a hopper therebelow, the screen being inclined to deliverthe remnants to one collecting point and the hopper being inclined todeliver the substance to another collecting point.

PATENTEB AUG 3 I971 SHEET 1 [1F 2 FIG. 2

124 INVENTOQ Del berZ KBarber MACHINE FOR SEPARATING A GRANULARSUBSTANCE FROM A CONTAINER OF PAPER OR THE LIKE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION In the business of packaging ground coffee in bags for sale,e.g. to restaurants, hotels, institutions and similar establishments, ithas been the practice to indicate the last date upon which the cofi'eeshould desirably be used, for the reason that freshness of the productis a primary requisite. This does not mean that the coffee will be unfitfor consumption after that date, but that more recently roasted andground coffee is obvi-' ously preferred. Wholesalers therefore have apolicy of accepting the return of "outdated coffee and replacing thesame. Since the returned coffee has a definite market in which absolutefreshness is not demanded-and in which a lower price is a primeconsideration it becomes necessary or desirable to repackage suchcoffee, with or without the addition of fresher coffee, for this othermarket in the most economical manner.

To allocate personnel to open and empty the packages manually, and thendiscard the same is, in these days of high labor cost, impractical andexpensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to avoid the expense referred to, thepresent invention comprehends a machine to receive the closed packages,subject the same to tearing to readily release the contents and todeliver the remnants of the packages and contents to a vibrating screen.The interstices of the screen are of a size to pass the coffee but notthe remnants. Below the screen is an open-ended hopper into which thescreened coffee passes. The hopper has an inclined bottom and is alsoarranged to vibrate in order that the coffee may be discharged at theopen end and into a receptacle. The screen is inclined oppositely to thebottom of the hopper to shake theremnants of the package into anotherreceptacle. The invention also comprehends the method of performingthesesteps.-

The completed packages are first deposited in a hopper, at the bottom ofwhich is a gate, desirably: a revolving gate, which is adapted toaccommodate only one or two packagesat a time and, upon revolution ofthe gate, the packages are droppedinto tearing means. This latterpreferably comprises cooperat' of any convenient form may be providedand to'which the lower end of the legs 12a, etc. are'affixed. The'topend of the pairs of legs 12a, 12c and 12b are respectively secured toopposite ends of side struts 16a and 16b as'well as the opposite ends oftransverse struts, 15a and 15c. An intermediate strut 15b extendsbetween the side struts 16a," 16b. Allof the several members are joinedby welding or otherwise to provide a rigid, boxlike structure.

A baseplate 21 overlies, and is secured to the top of 'the framework 10and has an overhanging extension 22 to carry a main driving motor 24.This extension carries a subframe 25 supporting a second driving motor27. It will be apparent that a single motor and suitable speed-changingmechanism may be substituted.

Surmounting the baseplate 21 and secured thereto is a boxlike structure31 havingsidewalls'32a, 32b, end walls 33a, 33b, 33c and a top wall 34.There is an opening 36 in the wall 34 corresponding to the lower end ofa loading hopper 38.

Secured between the walls 32a, 32b is a swinging partition defining,with the said walls and the wall 33b a throat space within which arotary gate 43 is contained. This gate is a ho]- low cylinder 45 whichis open over a portion of its 'circu'mference to form an entrance 46.The gate has end walls 42-42. The trailing side 46 of the wall 45 isdesirably V-shaped or otherwise formed to seize the package in thehopper, carry it to the interior of the gate and, upon rotation thereof,dropit to the tearing mechanism. The V- or other shape of the trailingside 46 is'designed' to effect preliminary puncture of the packageduring seizure thereof. Should a package or packages not be receivedcompletely. within the gate the partition 41 will be displaced therebyto avoid jamming. The partition may be biased toward the gate by gravityor springmeans. FIG. 3 shows one package A within the gate which'isshown as rotat ing clockwise. The end walls 42, 42 are provided withstub shafts 5!, 52 carried in bearings 53, 53. The arrangement fordriving the gate 43 will be referred to subsequently.

Situated below the gate 43 is tearingmeans comprising 2 three sets oftoothed wheels (FIGS. 3 and 4)". The set 55 conpitch of about 1 inch.The set of wheels 61' consists of'a pluing sets of toothed wheelswhereby the package is effectively and sufficiently torn in a number ofplacesto release the contents. To insure that all of the coffee issalvaged thevibrating 4 screen subjects the torn parts of the bag tofurther agitation. It

will become apparent that, by reason of the gate, the operative isprevented from feeding an excessive number of packages directly to thetearing means with the possibility of jamming; Further, since, in apreferred form, the tearing means comprises several sets of parallel;toothed wheels carried 'in inter digitated. relation on respectiveshafts, fingers are located between the wheels of at least one settodislodgepaperscrapr which may accumulate therebetween.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OE THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevational viewofthe machine;.

FIG. 2 is a detail to show a partof the driving-mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross sectionwith someparts ineleva-- tion;

FIG. 4 is a cross section taken on the line4-'-'4'ofFIG. 3;. 1

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken onthe line 5-5 of FIG. 3;.

FIG. 6 is a cross section takenonthe line 6-6-of FIG. Stand FIG. 7 is across section taken on-the line 7-7 ofFIG 3-.v

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED'EMBOD'IMENT' v Adverting' to the drawings,thereis shown; by way of'exam ple, one form ofmachine for carrying outthe principles'ofthe:

invention, A framework 10-is constituted of l'egslf la, 1 215126 ralityof wheels 610, each having a hub 62 keyed to a common shaft 68'.Theteeth 69 are preferably sharp with a circular pitch of about one halfinch. The third, or intermediate set of wheels 7 Leach has ahub 72 keyedto a common shaft 78,- and the teeth 73 are desirably of the sameconfiguration as the teeth 59.v It will be seen that the set of' wheels71 is interdigitated' with the other two sets. All of theshafts arecarried in suitable bearings in the walls 32a, 32b. Rotation isclockwise for the set 55, counterclockwise for the set 61 and clockwisefor the set 71, in orderto direct the scrap paper on to an auxiliaryscreen to be described. It will be clear from" the drawing that thecombined action of' the several sets of toothed wheels will efficientlytear the packages dropped thereinto from the gate 43". The: shape ofthe'teeth and their spacing is not critical as long asthe package is tornapart in such a wayas to insure that the coffee therein is released.

Research has demonstrated that the somewhat more pointed teeth 69'resultin improvedtearing' action, it being found that the som'ewhatblunt teeth of the other wheels tend to hold the bags momentarilywhiletearing occurs. As will become ap parent subsequently the tornpieces are subjected to additional: agitationto* free coffee which maybe retained in pockets ofthefragrnents.

andzlzdihaving conventional struts 1i3.at each side. A base I41 75derstood' that swinging or other motion may be imparted thereto in orderto sweep most effectively over the spaces between the wheels. Moreover,even though the fingers 91 are shown only in connection with the set ofwheels 61 it will be evident that the remaining sets may, if desired, beequipped similarly. a

The baseplate 21 has an aperture 95 through which the coffee and paperfragments may exit. Below the base plate 21 there is an arrangement ofscreens and a hopper for accepting the coffee and the torn pieces ofpaper and separating one from the other. To this end there is providedan inclinedframe 101 comprising side members 102, 102 and endmembers103, 103, this frame being inclined downwardly to the left (FIG. 3). Theangle of inclination is not critical and may be established empiricallyto achieve agitation of the torn fragments toward the left at a rateadequate to avoid pileup while permitting the coffee sufficientopportunity to pass through the screen.

The frame 101 supports, by means of struts 107, a subframe 111consisting of side members 112, 112 and an end member 113. A firstscreen 115 of mesh or perforated metal is secured to the bottom of theframe 111. This screen is of an area and is so located as to receive thecoffee which has been released by the tearing means and which fallsthrough the opening 95, and is inclined downwardly toward the left inorder that the agitation thereof will deliver the torn pieces of thepackage toward the left. A second screen 105 is secured to the bottom ofthe frame 101 and extends over an area sufficient to receive the coffeefalling through the first screen 115 as well as the torn pieces of paperfalling over the left edge of the latter. The twostage separation of thecoffee from the torn package and paper remnants assures thoroughrecovery of the coffee.

Below the screen 105 is a hopper 121 having a flanged edge 123 attachedto the frame 101, sides 124, 124 anda bottom 126, the latter beinginclined downwardly to the right.

The frame 101 and the several components carried thereby are supportedon rods 131, 132, the ends whereof are carried in one end of links 134,134 and 135, 135 respectively. The

Y one end of a connecting rod 146, at the other end of which is anapertured block 148 pivoted at 149 to the frame 101. Thus,

upon rotation of. the shaft 142 the screen-hopper assembly is oscillatedto facilitate passage of the coffee through the screens 115 and 105,into the hopper 121 and thence to a box or other receptacle 151.Meanwhile the torn pieces of paper are vibrated toward the left and intoa second receptacle 152.

The motor 24 is equipped with a speed reducer (not shown), the outputside of which has a sprocket 161 driving a chain 162 which, in turn,drives sprockets 165, 166 and 167 keyed to the shafts 68, 78 and 58respectively. An idler sprocket 168 of conventional constructionaccommodates for slack in the chain. g k

The stub shaft 51 (FIG. 7) carries a sprocket 171 and the shaft 58 asprocket 172, over which a chain 173 passes to rotate the gate 43. Anidler 176 of conventional form bearson the chain.

The motor 27 has a pulley 181 which drivesa pulley' 182 keyed to theshaft 142, whereby to rotate the eccentric 141.

it will be obvious that a single motor and appropriate drivingconnections may be substituted for the two motors of the example.However, there is some advantage in using the separate motor, as itallows independent selection of speeds for the screen-hopper assembly onthe one hand, and the rotary gate and tearing mechanism on the other.

Adverting to FIG. 1, it will be understood that the operator stands atthe left, removes the full packages A from a bag or carton 191 anddeposits them in the hopper 38. Should the operator overload the hopper,no misfunction will occur as the rotary gate will accept only so manypackages and no more.

I claim: 1. A machine for emptying packages containing granularsubstance, the package combining material capable of being torn to freethe contents for discharge comprising: means to tear the package, ahopper to receive the packages, said hopper having a bottom outlet, agate positioned in said outlet to control delivery of the packages tothe tearing means, said gate comprising a hollow cylinder having aportion of its lateral wall open to receive one or more packages duringone part of a revolution and, during a subsequent part of a revolution,to release said packages for delivery to the tearing means, the marginof the opening having a V-shaped projection on its trailing side to tearthe package.

2. The combination in accordance with claim 1 further characterized inthat the hopper is defined by wall portions adjacent the gate beingspaced from the gate by a distance less than the minimum dimension ofthe package to preclude short-circuiting of a package past the gate, atleast one of the walls opposite the gate opening being yieldably mountedwhereby a package which protrudes beyond the periphery of the gate willdeflect said gate in passing whereby to preclude jamming.

1. A machine for emptying packages containing granular substance, thepackage combining material capable of being torn to free the contentsfor discharge comprising: means to tear the package, a hopper to receivethe packages, said hopper having a bottom outlet, a gate positioned insaid outlet to control delivery of the packages to the tearing means,said gate comprising a hollow cylinder having a portion of its lateralwall open to receive one or more packages during one part of arevolution and, during a subsequent part of a revolution, to releasesaid packages for delivery to the tearing means, the margin of theopening having a V-shaped projection on its trailing side to tear thepackage.
 2. The combination in accordance with claim 1 furthercharacterized in that the hopper is defined by wall portions adjacentthe gate being spaced from the gate by a distance less than the minimumdimension of the package to preclude short-circuiting of a package pastthe gate, at least one of the walls opposite the gate opening beingyieldably mounted whereby a package which protrudes beyond the peripheryof the gate will deflect said gate in passing whereby to precludejamming.